The Gold Standard
Institute intends to bring
truth into the
open… and allow..people
to make up their own minds…Far from us to try to impose our ideas on anyone!
Rudy Fritsch, Gold Standard Institute
As a result of an August 16th interview on the Max Keiser
Show, Sandeep Jaitly was forced to resign from the Gold Standard
Institute for comments he
made about novelist Ayn
Rand and economist Ludwig von
Mises (Jaitly appears 12
minute, 15 seconds into Keiser’s
interview).
Ludwig von Mises is the greatest economist of 20th century
Sandeep Jaitly 8/16/2012
on The Max Keiser Show
The above comment by Jaitly about von Mises is not the comment objected to by ‘objectivists’
at the Gold Standard Institute. It does, however, show the
admiration Jaitly has for von
Mises despite Jaitly’s
belief that von Mises departed from the earlier path set by Carl Menger, the ‘father’
of Austrian economics, in
the 19th century.
Since his forced resignation, the Jaitly matter has spiraled into something greater than an intra-organizational spat. On August
26th, Forbes Magazine posted an article by John Matonis, “Economist Appearing on Max Keiser Show Forced
to Resign”; and, on August 27th, two of the most widely read and respected economic bloggers on the web, Jesse’s
Café Americain and Tyler Durden’s
ZeroHedge, linked to the Matonis article about Jaitly’s
departure.
Watching this grow into a media event was unexpected. Especially since I know Sandeep Jaitly personally. I consider Sandeep a friend
and I admire his intellect. I also
know Rudy Fritsch of the Gold Standard Institute and Philip Barton, the president of GSI who announced Sandeep’s departure to the public.
Because of my proximity
to the characters in this
apparently ideological drama, I have some insight into the underlying motives for
Sandeep’s expulsion; motives touched upon in Stacy Herbert’s post on August 26th (Stacy Herbert is the co-host of the Max
Keiser Show).
The controversy stems from a belief among Ayn Rand’s followers that Ayn Rand’s views about economics are the same as those of Ludwig von Mises. Rand made a point of associating
her views with von Mises, one of the great thinkers of the 20th century. Von Mises, however, did not return the favor and is known to have made disparaging remarks about the popular novelist.
Ayn Rand was best known
for her novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged
(1957). Based on the widespread
popularity of her books,
Rand created a philosophy
based on selfishness as a
virtue called ‘objectivism’. For those with such inclinations, Rand’s outspoken defense of selfishness was as liberating as National Socialism was for anti-Semites.
Ayn Rand grew up in totalitarian
Russia which explains her deserved distaste for the many sins of this now-discredited ideology. In the place of godless
communism, however, Rand preached’ objectivism’,
her own form of godless capitalism (Ayn Rand, like Karl Marx, was an avowed atheist).
Stacy Herbert’s post exposes the differences
between the so-called Libertarians who espouse Ayn Rand’s
‘objectivism’ and the Libertarianism put forth by the
father of the Libertarian
movement, Dr. Murray Rothbard.
In 1972, Rothbard warned
Ayn Rand’s philosophy was antithetical to the Libertarian
movement. In theory, Ayn Rand espoused personal freedom; but, in
practice, she practiced
the very opposite.
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In
practice there is.
Yogi Berra
In The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult, Rothbard puts to bed, once and for all,
the pubescent wet-dreams of Ayn
Rand acolytes who believe
there is a connection between Ayn Rand’s ‘objectivism’ and the Libertarian
ideals of personal freedom.
Stacy Herbert was right about who was responsible for Jaitly’s forced departure from the Gold
Standard Institute. In her post, Herbert writes, To my mind, this firing
has a lot to do with Keith Weiner,
the president of the Gold Standard Institute in America who claims in his own bio that
he is both
a follower of Ayn Rand
and of Austrian economics.
Please note that at the heart of our discussion with Sandeep Jaitly was this very
question – is it
possible to be both a follower of Objectivism and an Austrian economist? Weiner clearly did not like this question to be asked and if you re-read the letter from GSI, Rand seems to be at
the heart of their decision to fire Jaitly.
I believe there is a more personal reason for Keith Weiner wanting the GSI to expel Sandeep Jaitly other than differences
in economic ideology. Like Stacy Herbert, however, I
do believe the real instigator
of Sandeep’s forced
exit was Keith Weiner.
Last spring, I noticed that Zerohedge was posting articles by Keith Weiner on the basis, a method
of predicting movements
in the price of gold and silver
popularized by Professor
Antal Fekete.
Sandeep Jaitly, a mathematician
by training (Imperial College, London) added immeasurably to the understanding of the basis by introducing
the concept of the co-basis. Sandeep
subsequently started a subscription newsletter on the basis which
later found a home at wwwfeketeresearch.com.
I, for one, read Sandeep’s monthly reports on the basis with
interest; and, then, in
the spring of 2012, I noticed
articles on the basis being posted
by Keith Weiner on Tyler Durden’s
Zerohedge website. It appeared that Weiner was garnering
a public reputation on the basis, a reputation due solely to his proximity to Sandeep Jaitly and Professor Fekete.
Weiner, a wealthy and highly
successful businessman, was
an avid follower of Ayn Rand and during the spring 2009 session of Fekete’s
Gold Standard University, Weiner
had began staking out a future position in Fekete’s
Gold Standard University.
Weiner later extended
his influence to the Gold Standard Institute and in
April 2012 was appointed
‘president’ of the Gold Standard
Institute in the US; and what I noticed
in the spring of 2012 was
that Keith Weiner was now setting himself up as an expert on the basis on the internet.
When I spoke at
the New School of Austrian
Economics in Munich in March, Sandeep
Jaitly and Keith Weiner were principal speakers at the event. There was, however, an undercurrent of antagonism as Jaitly had apparently confronted Weiner about Weiner’s taking credit for Sandeep’s work and Weiner’s response was not satisfactory.
When I heard that
Philip Barton had asked
for Sandeep Jaitly’s
resignation, my response was the same as Stacy Herbert…this
firing has a lot to do with
Keith Weiner, the president
of the Gold Standard Institute in America who claims in his own bio that he is both
a follower of Ayn Rand
and of Austrian economics.
I believe that ideological differences while meaningful are but a smokescreen for Weiner’s payback for Jaitly confronting Weiner over his co-opting Jaitly’s work to enhance his own reputation.
My experience with
some of the avid followers of Ayn Rand were not pleasant. After the spring 2010 session
of the Gold Standard University, Martha and I were confronted by a Rand follower who began interrogating us with the unexpected (and inappropriate) question, ‘Do you
believe in God?”
Like many followers
of Ayn Rand, he was unaware Rand was an atheist whereas Martha and I are not (In 2011, we both became
ordained ministers, see my spiritual page on my economic news site).
The first appearance of Keith Weiner at that 2010 session of Gold
Standard University and Weiner’s
aggressive defense of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of selfishness left a bitter taste in our mouth and we assumed Weiner’s presence would grow.
In response I wrote a scathing attack on Ayn Rand and the effect of selfishness on America in my article, America at the Crossroads and the War on Gold. The war for America’s soul
has as much to do with selfishness as it has to do with the bankers’ paper money.
For those unable to make that connection,
the rendering that is about to take place will take them
with it, no matter how much bullion they have put away.
Buy gold, buy silver,
have faith.
Darryl Robert Schoon
www.survivethecrisis.com
www.drschoon.com
Blog www.posdev.net/pdn/index.php?option=com_myblog&blogger=drs&Itemid=81
